


Another French Mistake

by ERamos9696



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-28
Updated: 2017-05-28
Packaged: 2018-11-06 02:01:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11026251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ERamos9696/pseuds/ERamos9696
Summary: What happened to Jensen and Jared when they were thrown into the world of Supernatural from the episode, "The French Mistake," is finally answered.





	Another French Mistake

**Author's Note:**

  * For [happy29](https://archiveofourown.org/users/happy29/gifts), [NyteKit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NyteKit/gifts).



> I wrote this years ago and thought it was time that I took it out of the drawer. If you don't know what "The French Mistake" really referred to, you should google it. The episode makes so much more sense once you get the title.
> 
> Special thanks to Happy29 for making me believe that I should start posting. To my niece, Amelia, I know you will continue to love the show as much as I love you.
> 
> To Amber: Look how much our lives have changed since that SPN Convention!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own characters nor the story-line.

Chapter 1

Dean and Sam were piling the bodies of the unholy in an abandoned warehouse in some forgotten town in Missouri.  They had followed their leads to what they thought was a possible case involving vampires or werewolves.  Either way, there was a job to do.  Dean had just taken a swing with his machete that would have made Hank Aaron, the true home-run king, proud.  He kicked the head over to the  other side of the room where Sam was standing.  Sam kicked it back.  

“Are you going to answer that?” Sam was referring to Dean’s other other phone he kept inside his jacket pocket.

Dean did not realize his phone was ringing.  

The caller-id glowed  **_CAS_ ** .  He felt that taking the call would not do him any harm as long as Sam continued to watch the door.

“Dean, I need your help. There's a problem-”

“Did you lose your grace again?”  Dean looked out the window.  The sun would be rising soon.  

“No. I need you to both return to the bunker.”

“Now, Buddy?  We are up to our necks in a vamps’ nest.”  Dean found the humor in his own pun.

“As soon as you can.”

“Sure?”  Dean could hear more vampires coming up the stairs so he didn’t wait for the answer.  “See you soon.”

“Yes, please.”  Cas knew Dean ended the conversation before he got a chance to hear his response.

Sam turned away from the door. “What's up?”

“Cas. He says there’s a problem.” Dean started for the door.

“Did he lose his grace again?”

Dean yelled, “Down!”  Sam did as he was ordered and another head rolled to the floor.  “Anymore?”

Sam looked out the door.  “Two more.”

“Let's finish this.”

Hours later both men were pulling into the garage of the bunker.  Dean double-timed it to find Cas.  

Dean walked through the hallway yelling out, “Cas, this better be huge. We didn't even wash the vamp juice off. We-”

Dean dropped his duffle bag while trying to come to grips as to what he was observing.  There was a well-dressed Sam leafing through one of the books at the map table. There also was a well-dressed him looking over Sam’s clone’s shoulder.  He, him, was drinking his Scotch.

Dean didn’t know whether to take out his gun or shake the hand that his clone was now extending.

“Jensen Ackles.”

Dean shook his hand on instinct staring at Cas for answers.

The Sam clone stood up and followed suit. “Jared Padalecki.”

Cas asked, “Where's Sam?” 

Cas turned when he heard Sam drop the backpack he was carrying in the arch way. Sam responded to the scene by taking out his gun.

“No, Sam! They are not a threat.”  Cas stepped between Sam and the clones to prove his point.

Sam looked over to Dean who responded by shrugging his shoulders.

Jared and Jensen remained still while Sam decided what to do with his gun drawn at them.

“Please, Sam.  Let me explain.”  Cas wanted Sam to lower his gun but knew reaching for Sam’s gun was not the best plan.

“Good idea, Cas.”  Dean kept an eye on Cas and the doppelgangers.  

Jared returned to his seat and pulled out one for Jensen.

Cas gestured for the boys to sit. They did so on the opposite side of the table but Sam kept his gun pointed at both men.

Cas took a seat at the head of the table pleading, “Sam, please.” He looked over to Dean for assistance. 

“Put it away, Sammy.”

Sam did so.

“Wait,” Dean was processing the introductions, “did you say your name was Jensen and Jared?”

Sam recognized the names right away.  “From Bizarro World?”

Jensen laughed. “That's what we called this place when we found ourselves on the front porch of what we thought was the set of the character Bobby Singer’s house.”

“So, you two are the guys we replaced when Balthazar sent us to Biza-”

Cas interrupted to stop from hearing that reference again.  “Yes, that is correct Dean.”

“Why didn't they go back when we returned here?”

Cas was hoping not to be asked that question.  “It is difficult to explain.”

Dean didn’t care.  “So? Explain.”

“That place was created by Balthazar and many of my followers at that time.   It was not an alternate universe or world as you like to call it.  It was necessary to fabricate every detail in order to keep you safe while we prepared ourselves for our battle with Raphael.”

“We know the story Cas, we lived it.”  Dean wanted Cas to get to the point.

“Yeah, but we didn't.”  Jensen wanted to hear the whole story.

“What?”  Dean wanted Jensen to explain.

“Those whole lives you stepped into were less than a day old.  The angels worked their spell and bam, instant patsies with human brains and human parts.”

Dean directed the next question to Jared.  “So, you didn't marry fake Ruby in Bizarro World?”

“It feels like I did. I have memories of everything from Bizarro World.” Jared got a glimpse of Jensen's disdain. “What? He keeps calling it that.”

“The point is, it was one big lie. We weren't actors on a show or any of that. We were made human targets in case Raphael got too close in finding the two of you.”  Jensen seemed to answer with a calmness that Sam had never witnessed from Dean.

“We've been here for close to five years.”  Jared swallowed the math with a sip of Scotch. 

“My garrison did not see them as a priority after, well…”  Cas did not want to revisit his ill-fated decisions.

“When you went all  _ new god _ ?”  Sam had no problem bringing up Cas’s poor choices.

“At first, they kept us alive in case they needed us again. But when the angels started to get eaten by, what were they called?”  Jared looked over to Sam for the answer.

Both Dean and Jensen answered in unison, “Leviathans.”

“We were left to fend for ourselves.”  Jared was beginning to drift into his own memories.

“We are living in one of Balthazar's mansions. He never came back so we started to sell what we could to survive.”  Jensen patted Jared on the shoulder to bring him back to conversation.

“You two don't look too shabby.”  Dean was right.  They were wearing expensive clothes and appeared healthy.  They might not have had Dean or Sam’s muscle build, but those kind of strength and conditioning workouts could only be done in abandoned warehouses housing monsters and such.

“Balthazar's trinkets pay the rent, if we paid rent, that is.”  Jensen wanted to downplay want Dean was alluding to.  “We had to stay low-key. We knew that if demons wanted you both dead, they would probably want us dead too.”

Another question popped into Dean’s head.  “So you guys don't hate each other?”

Jensen smiled with the memory. “We did at first but we couldn't figure out why.”

Jared had the same smile.  “We couldn't figure out a lot of things.   The backstory that Balthazar cooked up for us had some holes in it.  We knew that we had a small, intimate thing during the first year of filming and that we stopped talking to each other instead of dealing with it. But we couldn't remember the details, the night or anything. A real  _ French Mistake _ .”

Both Sam and Dean did not understand the reference. 

“They took their time creating Jared's life but ran out of time when it came to mine.  But there wasn't enough drama for us to remember why we hated each other.”

“We needed, I needed, help before I lost my mind.”  Jared seemed almost ashamed for having to make that statement.

“So, why not ask Balthazar for help?”  It was at that moment that Sam realized he had not seen Baltazar in years.

“Uh, Cas, uh.”  Dean made a feeble attempt to answer for Cas.

Sam knew right away what happened.  “Really?  He was your friend.”

“At the time, I learned he was a traitor.”  Cas’s answer was dry and with no regret.

“For helping us?”  The disappointment could be heard in Sam’s voice.

“Yes.”  Again, with no regret.

Sam snapped, “We know how that worked out!”

Dean lowered his voice as if he didn’t want the fight to start with guest in the room.  “Stop it, Sammy. He's already paid for that.”

“Actions have consequences, Cas.”  Sam did not want to let it go.

“Really, Sam?  Or have you forgotten Rowena?”  Cas would have gotten out of his chair to make his point but Dean intervened.  

“Enough you two!” Dean rolled his eyes.

Jensen finished his Scotch and got up to serve himself another one. He refilled Jared's glass as well.

“You want to pour me one before you finish our good stuff?”  Dean was in need of a drink, and maybe a nap.

Jensen grabbed two more glasses and did the honors.

Jensen and Jared clinked their glasses at the same time and Sam and Dean did theirs.

“So what now, Cas?  Why bring them into the bunker?”  It might have been the Scotch or the time to cool down, but Sam spoke softly.

“We prayed to him. We are your replicas. So when Cas heard our prayers he naturally thought it was the two of you.   He brought us here, whatever this place is.”  Jensen really didn’t care where they were or how they got there.  He needed their help.

Dean gave the, _you_ _fell_ _for_ _that_ look.

“They were very convincing,” Cas squeaked.

“We're actors.”  For some reason Jensen felt that he needed to come to Cas’s defense.

“We were never actors,” Jared corrected him.

Chapter 2

Dean and Jensen were fixing grub in the kitchen. There was an assembly line of sandwich food across the counter. Both men were making two sandwiches each. Dean for Sam. Jensen for Jared. Dean watched as Jensen double meat, double cheese, double everything in one of the sandwiches.

“Hungry there, Bud?”  Dean pointed to the masterpiece Jensen was making.

“This is for Jared,”  Jensen responded. “Sam isn't the same way?”  

“No. I'm actually a much bigger eater than he is.”

“Well, I am glad the angels got that wrong. That boy will put anything into his mouth.”

Dean paused for a second to process the comment.

Sam and Jared continued staring at each other at the table.

“Am I freaking you out?”  That was Jared’s weak attempt at small talk.

“No, sorry. I know this must be weird for you.”

“It's not for you?”

“Sadly, no. You wouldn't believe the crap we've seen.”  Sam tried to downplay the comment.

“Actually, I do. The angels crammed six years of episodes into our heads making us believe we lived those adventures as actors.”

“Well, let me just say these last three years have been insane.”

Jared scooted his chair closer to Sam.  “Tell me.”

Back in the kitchen both men were clinking beer necks.

“They made that thing with the bugs a memory episode?”  Dean’s interest was piqued.

“To me, it really happened. I remember swallowing a few. As I thought about it some more, I realized as bad as a memory it was for me, you really lived it.”

“Trust me Buddy, if you knew about the last three years, swallowing bugs would be a welcome exchange.”

“No, way.”  Jensen couldn’t believe what he was saying.

“Yes, way.”

Both men shared a chuckle.

“I need to know something.”  Dean became serious again.

“Sure.”

“When we went to Bizarro World, we were told that you two hated each other. That you didn't even speak to each other. How'd you deal with that here?”

“Survival mode, I guess. We were plucked from Bobby's porch almost immediately. When we woke up, we were in Balthazar's mansion on the west coast. Nothing but beach and ocean for miles.  Nothing but sand between our toes.”

Dean was jealous but he wasn't going to let Jensen see that.

“One of the angels tried to explain to us what was happening. Jared lost it and she had to knock him unconscious, with this little two finger to the forehead thing. I asked her for a laptop and I spent the next two hours trying to figure things out. So much of what we knew in our fabricated world was like this real world but there were a lot of differences too. It was overwhelming.”

“You both seem okay now.” Dean didn’t mean to sound rude, but by the look Jensen gave him, he knew that’s the way he probably understood it.  

Jensen continued.  “The last couple of months have been the easiest. We also realized that we were running out of gold to sell from Balthazar's little treasures so we needed to create a new plan to survive.”  

Dean grabbed the sandwiches he made.  He wondered how many of those trinkets Jensen and Jared were selling were religious artifacts, or worse yet, weapons.  

In the next room the roles were reversed and Sam was filling Jared in.

“And he died?”  Jared couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Right there in my arms.”

“I would have been a wreck.”

“I haven't gotten to the intense part yet.”

“What?”  Jared could not believe there was more.  He thought the six years of implanted memories were a lot to handle, but it seemed to get even more intense as the years went by.  If  _ Supernatural _ had been a real television show, he would be its biggest fan.

“So get this, wait.” Sam went to the shelf that held his personal journals. “Read this one. It covers that year.”

The elder two of the men returned from the kitchen with beers and plated sandwiches with chips. 

“Hungry?”  Jensen put the plate before Jared.

“Always,” Jared answered.

“I'll have to make him another one in about twenty minutes.”  As Jensen started in on the chips on his plate he used his other hand to massage Jared's back.

Sam watched as it seemed so natural.

He looked over to Dean for confirmation in what he was witnessing.

_ I'll explain later, _ is what Dean replied without saying a word to him.

Dinner had ended and dessert was moved to the kitchen. Everyone was digging into the pie except for Jensen who nursed his coffee. They all made small talk about the differences in Sam and Dean's real world as opposed to Jensen and Jared's fabricated reality. Both Jensen and Jared felt that their universe was a much softer place. No monsters. No demons or angels. No gods to kill. Both men had felt that the angels had designed it that way because the truth is always much harder to deal with. But, like with any other great plans designed by angels, the flaws were many.

Cas entered the kitchen with a grim face.

Dean was the first to spot Cas.  “Here comes Happy.”

Cas looked behind him only to realize he was the butt of the joke.

“Unfortunately, I bring bad news.”  He felt it necessary to loosen his tie.

“Of course you do.”  Dean let his fork fall to his plate.

“According to Libby, all the angels that worked with Balthazar are no longer with us.  The angels that were masters at making alternate universes were Zacharia, Balthazar, Gabriel, and Michael.”

Everyone sat in quiet.

Dean stood up and walked over to Cas to give him a gentle tap on the back.  “Well, we are not going to figure anything out tonight. What do you say we continue this conversation in the morning?”

“I prepared Kevin’s old room for them.”  Cas was a gracious host.

“Cas, there's plenty of bedrooms in the bunker. I'll make up another one.  They don’t have to share a room.”  Sam was also playing the gracious host.

Both Jensen and Jared stood together. Jensen took Jared's hand to follow Cas.  “That's okay, Buddy.  We only need one bed.”

Both Sam and Dean were speechless as they watched J2 follow Cas to their room.

Dean waited for them to be out of earshot before the he turned to Sam with the biggest grin on his face.  “I totally saw that coming.”

“You did not.”

“I did.  That’s why I gave you that look.” 

Sam gave him bitchface #12.  He grabbed dishes off the table and placed them into the sink.  Dean started to wash them as Sam took his place to dry.

“When I was in here earlier with Jensen, you should have seen the way he talked about Jared.”

Sam would look at the dish Dean just washed and rinsed and put it back into the soapy water side of the sink. 

“He had this total,  _ I am the man in this relationship _ , tone.”

“So?”

“What do you mean,  _ so _ ?”  Dean realized that he was doing the same dishes again.

“What?  Do them right the first time.”

“You could totally tell that he was the alpha male.”

“Like you?”

Dean was thrown off by Sam’s comment and made a bitchface of his own.  “No,”  Dean paused, “what?”

The dishes were done and both men agreed to continue the debate in the morning.  Sam noticed that J2’s door was ajar.  He knocked softly not knowing what to expect to see.

He thought he heard Jensen whisper, “Come in.”

There was Jensen sitting up against the headboard.  He had taken off his first layer and was down to his shirt and jeans.  Jared was sleeping and laying on his stomach with his arm draped across Jensen’s chest.  Jared was in his silk boxers with his head facing the opposite direction of Jensen.  This gave Jensen the opportunity to card Jared’s hair.  Jensen put his finger to his lips giving Sam the international,  _ the baby’s sleeping _ , sign.  Jensen tried to pull himself out from under Jared’s arm.

It didn’t work.  Jared woke up a bit startled.

Jensen assured Jared with, “I’ll be right back.  You’re okay.”  He kissed Jared on the lips and this was enough to let Jensen loose.

Jensen stepped out of the room with Sam.  He left the door ajar.  “He doesn’t like closed doors.”

They walked down the hall to Sam’s room.  Sam offered Jensen the desk chair while he sat at the corner of the bed.  “Sorry.  I just wanted to see if you two needed anything.”

Jensen took a moment to look around the room.  He laughed at the kitty poster hung over the dresser.  “We’re good.  We brought a bag.  But, I have a feeling there is another reason you knocked on our door.”

Sam was caught.  Apparently, Jensen was just as intuitive as Dean. “I just wanted to ask you about him?  Jared.”

“What about him?”

“He seems a little-”

“Wounded?”  Jensen hit the nail on the head.

“Okay, I was going to say shell-shocked. Same thing.”

“He lost more than I did.  His life was a lot more detailed than mine.  His feelings, like those for Gen, were real even though he understands it was more like a dream.  The house, the cars, the life.  All that was drilled into his head.”

Jensen got up and walked over to the photo sitting on the dresser.  It was of Dean and Sam as children.  “My programming wasn’t as elaborate as his.  It was easier for me to accept what was going on.”  He took the picture back to the chair with him.  

“I couldn’t lose him.  I needed him to keep on fighting.  There were days that I was afraid I would find him dead from grief.  But we weren’t sure if replicas go to heaven or hell.  I don’t know about you but he’s a pretty spiritual guy.  Are you?”

“Spiritual?”  Sam took a moment.  “I don’t want to sound too jaded.”

“He’s the same way.  He finds out that his whole life is a lie and he still wants to believe in sunsets and higher powers.”

“I get that.”  Sam took the photo from Jensen and placed it back on the dresser.

“I knew you would.”

Jared came through the door, wearing a t-shirt and his boxers.  Jensen took his hand.  “We’ll talk more tomorrow.  It’s been a long day.  Plus, I think you have a little vampire in your hair.”  Jared and Jensen exited the room.

Jensen stripped down to his boxers and joined Jared under the blanket.  Jared waited for Jensen to settle into the bed and then took his spot by his side.  This time he wrapped himself around Jensen’s body as to not let him leave again.

“I’m right here, Buddy,” Jensen reassured him, “I‘m not going anywhere.”

Jared held on tighter.  “What were you talking about?”  He wasn’t being nosey; it was more pillow talk.

“You.”  Jensen knew that Jared wasn’t really looking for conversation.  He would go into details in the morning when Jared was coherent. “He wanted to know what a stud like you saw in an old man like me.”

“Not old.”  Jared mumbled as he drifted back to sleep.

There were many nights like this.  They had vowed to each other never to keep secrets and never to sleep apart.  Their relationship bloomed into its current state after they realized that the angels would not be returning.  There were many nights that Jared's screaming would send Jensen running into his room.  Sweating.  Shaking.  Crying.  Jensen soon learned that they would both get through the night with Jared feeling safe when Jensen was watching over him. 

Jensen first spent many nights sleeping in the overstuffed leather chair in the corner of the room.  That slowly merged into sleeping on the unoccupied side of the bed.  Soon after, it was Jensen’s chest that Jared was using as a pillow.

One morning, Jensen found Jared gazing upon him as the sun rose and bathed the room in its iridescent light. Jared asked Jensen to join him for a walk on the beach; the entire walk consisted of hand holding and soul searching. 

Jensen feared that Jared’s love for him materialized from fear and desperation. Jared made it clear that it was Jensen’s kindness, patience, and strength that was the light in his life in which he was drawn to. That he knew the love for his Bizarro World wife was fabricated, merely a concept implanted in his head. That the man who protected him every night, the man that made him lunch everyday, the man who made himself vulnerable to every word he whispered, was the man he loved and soon lusted for.

They were clumsy at first.  They would share their  curiosities with each other and work at bathing each other in the warmth of their love that seemed to be provided from the universe just for them. Although, to the outsider it would look like Jensen was the alpha male, it was always Jared’s desires that came first.  Jared would plead with Jensen to establish the roles of the relationship but for Jensen there was no need to do that.  They had become one, knowing that they were better together than apart.

Jared was deep in a nightmare that sat upon the shelf of others that were just as unpleasant. Gen was taking pictures at the base of a pyramid in the jungle of Peru.  She reached for Jared's hand. He knew though it wasn't her hand he was holding. It was Jensen's grip.

Jensen replaced the image of Gen. “She's not real, Babe, I am.”  Jensen brought Jared's hand to his lips. Jared could feel everything.  Jensen kissed each fingertip. Then Jensen pressed Jared’s hand to his cheek. He could feel the stubble on his face.  “I'm real.”  

Just as Jared was going in for a kiss, he heard Balthazar say, "It's time to send you back."  He heard the fluttering of wings and they were gone. 

Jared sat up and brought his knees to his chest. The movement in the bed was enough to wake Jensen. He could see Jared’s hair sticking to his neck.

“Which nightmare this time?”  Jensen gently massaged circles in Jared’s back.

“Balthazar taking you.”

“Babe, he’s dead.  We know that for sure now.”

“Then why did I still have the nightmare?”

“Give it time.  We just found out last night.  We’re safe.”  Jensen looked over to his watch on the nightstand.  “I’m going to find you some breakfast.”

Before he could lift his sheet, Jared laid his head upon Jensen’s chest.  “Or we can just stay like this for the rest of eternity.” Jared seemed pretty definite in his plan.

“My hunger is gonna make this eternity you speak of hellish.”

“Love conquers all right?”

“Have you been reading up on your cheesy quotes?”

“My love will fill you up Jen.”

It wasn’t until Jared’s stomach started to make some God-awful noise that Jensen was able to make his escape towards the kitchen.  Before he dressed himself, he thought he would tone down the wardrobe.  A t-shirt and jeans would suffice this time.  He wasn’t there to impress anyone.

In the library, Sam was in one of the leather chairs surrounded by the knowledge contained within the books.

“Morning.”

Sam looked up from his reading.  “Afternoon,” he corrected him.

Jensen took a look at his watch.  “So it is.”  He walked over to Sam to admire the book-shaped fort.  “Let me guess, research?”

“All morning.  You must be starving or did you pack food too?”

Jensen knew the question was directed at the comment he had made the night before.  “I am okay, but the big guy is starving.”

“Dean made a grocery run this morning.”

In the kitchen Jensen found enough food to make Jared a hearty breakfast. Sam played the role of sous chef.  “Who is the cook in family?” he asked Sam.

“Dean. He’s afraid if I made our meals, he would turn green from kale overload.”

“I can’t get that kid to eat anything healthy.  I try to sneak in a vegetable or two once in awhile, but then I get that bitchface.”

Sam responded with, “You mean this one?”  Bitchface #66 perfectly executed.

Jensen nearly dropped the plate he was serving, holding his side in from laughing.

Jared walked into the kitchen greeting Jensen with a kiss.  “Food!”  He took his plate to the table with a, “Hey, Sam.”

“I’ll let you two eat.  I’m expecting an email from one of my hunters in Japan.”  He watched as Jared made room for Jensen to sit next to him.

Sam’s call to Amber had paid off.  She was a hunter that Dean trained when she was still state’s side.  She had spent the last year in Tokyo working with the locals gathering weapons and learning spells. She wasn’t due back in Baton Rouge for a couple of months but Sam felt she would have some ideas on how to help. 

Sam read the email twice and then printed the attachment.  Everything was there.  The instructions were translated perfectly and she guaranteed the spell would work.  At the bottom of the attachment she had highlighted,  **_irreversible_ ** .  He knew most of the ingredients were in one of the storage rooms.

“Anything good?”  

Without looking up, Sam knew that it was Jensen’s voice and not that of Dean’s.  Dean’s voice was deeper.  It was also his presence.  Not that he didn’t trust Jensen, but there was a sense of security Sam felt with Dean in the room.  He wondered if Jared felt it with Jensen.

“One of our hunters, Amber, has a spell that will wipe Bizarro World out of your memories for good.  It is an ancient spell. Many of the elders last used it to wipe Hiroshima out some of the victims' minds. It helped some people heal faster. If they can do that with the memory of a bomb dropping, Bizarro World shouldn't be a problem.”  He gave the printout to Jensen.

“I think we’ve had enough with people playing with our heads.”

“This is different.  You would be in charge of what you want out.”

“I don’t like it.  Everything gone?  It’s-”

Jared came into the room and only caught the question Jensen asked.  He rushed over to Jensen and took the papers from his hand.  “What?”  As he read the documents he could feel his blood starting to boil.  “No!”

“Let me explain.”  But before Sam could, he heard Cas and Dean coming down the stairs.  He thought it would be better to explain the option with everyone in the room.

Instead, Jared saw this as a stall tactic.  Memories of angels, nightmares and fear hit him at once.  “No, no!”  He let the papers drop to the floor and grabbed Jensen by the shoulders.  “Promise.  Promise!”  He didn’t realize he was yelling.

“Babe, it’s okay.”

Jared misunderstood Jensen's comment as an opposing decision.  “No!”

Cas put his two fingers to Jared’s forehead and Jared collapsed into Jensen’s arms.

Dean helped Jensen carry a dead-weight Jared to the chair.  

Jensen felt for a pulse. “What the hell, Cas?  What’d you do that for?”

“I thought I was helping.”

Sam picked up the papers from the floor.  “How was that helping?”

“He seemed agitated.”

“He’s going to be really pissed now!”  Jensen was not happy. 

“I thought I was helping.”

Jared started to come to, hoping that someone had gotten the engine number of the train that hit him.  He opened his eyes to see Jensen, no, Dean staring at him.

“Where’s Jensen?”  He tried to lift his head.

“Take these.”  Dean handed him two aspirin and a glass of water.  

As he sat up he could feel the room spin.  He closed his eyes to let the aspirin do their job.

“I want to say sorry for what Cas did.  He thought he was helping.”

“Is that your job?  To apologize for him?”  Jared finally opened his eyes to see Jensen was standing behind Dean.

“He seems fine.”  Dean was doing his impression of a doctor.

“I’m pissed,” Jared corrected him.

Jensen switched places with Dean.  “Hey, Babe.”

Jared pulled Jensen into a kiss.

“He’s fine,” Jensen continued to kiss Jared.

Jared spoke into the kiss, “still pissed.”

Both Jensen and Dean helped Jared out of the chair.  Jared quickly shook them both off but reached to hold Jensen’s hand before Jensen could get offended.

Sam and Cas entered the room to see the patient standing.

Dean walked over to Cas and warned him with, “He’s pissed.”

“I am sorry for that.”

“I tried telling him that.”

Cas was only disappointed in himself and knew that he had to apologize.  “I am sorry for earlier.”

Jared wanted to pretend that he was still upset but the truth was he had already let it go.  “We’re cool.”  He offered a fist bump.

Cas reciprocated.  He turned around to Dean to receive some type of acknowledgement.  “We’re cool.”

“Okay, before we all start holding hands and talking about our feelings, what do you say we talk about what Amber sent Sammy.”  Dean led everyone to the table.  

As everyone sat down Dean continued, “Jensen has made it clear that the two of you want nothing to do with getting mind melded.”  

Sam took over the conversation.  “But what if we could mind meld everyone else?”

J2 had no idea where he was going with this.

“While you were in your forced naptime, Amber sent over another spell.”  This time he handed the printout to Jared.  

Both men read through the printouts making faces of  _ it’s possible, maybe that, don’t think that will hurt. _

Sam and Dean watched the sync show until both men were done reading the material.

Jensen asked Jared what he thought and Jared responded positively.  All this without a word being said.

Jensen handed the papers to Dean.  “Can you do it?”

“Amber has never let us down before,” Dean assured him.

“We’re going to talk about it.”  Jensen took Jared’s hand and they left the room.

Dean seemed offended.  “What’s there to talk about?  It’s perfect.”  He offered the paperwork back to Sam as evidence of his statement.  

“It’s their decision.”  Sam put the paperwork into a folder. “They need to decide something soon. Amber is on a plane headed our way.”

“She’s going to be pissed if she made the trip for nothing.” Dean walked over to the bar to pour himself something from his private stash.

“You should save some for Amber. You know how much she loves that Bourbon.”

Dean knew that Sam was right. If J2 did not go for the plan, they were going to need more than a bottle of Bourbon.

Cas came up behind them with, “Is beer still okay?”  He had one for each of them. “I will find what we need for the spell.”

“Cas, most of it should be in the storage rooms. If you want to help me find what we need, I would appreciate that.”  Sam's tone was softer now and seemed to get through to Cas.

Cas nodded his head, “Yes, I would like to help you.”

The awkward silence was broken when Dean swung his arms around both men.  “See, we bicker, we fight, we make-up…  One big happy family.”  Both men stepped out of Dean’s wrap. 

Cas and Sam both looked at each other and then back to Dean.  “Shuddup.” They took their beers and left for the hallway.

“Really?”  Dean took a pull from his beer and yelled, “One big dysfunctional family!”  He started down the same hallway.  “Hey, Cas, he was my baby brother first, you big baby angel.”

Dean could hear both men yelling, “Shuddup!” down the hall. He smiled.  

Both Js were laying on the bed. Jensen had his back up against the headboard with Jared’s head positioned on his lap.  They let their fingers linger in and out of each other’s touch.

Jared finally broke the moment. “It seems safe.”

“They wouldn’t do anything to harm us.”

“How are you so sure?”  Jared still had his doubts.

“Because we know Sam and Dean.”

“What if she does it wrong?”

“Amber is the best in Japanese magic and spells.  She has been taught by the best.  Dean has a lot of confidence in her. They cleared a vamp’s nest in Baton Rouge two years ago and he told me, watching her kill those biting bastards brought a tear to his eye.”  

“Just one tear?”

“One perfect tear.”  Both men started laughing.  

Jared came up with an idea, “We need to ask Sam if Dean really cries like that.  That would be great.”

After the men stopped giggling, silence came over both of them.  They were comfortable without saying a word. Jensen leaned into Jared’s ear and whispered, “I will never let anything happen to you.  You are my everything.  There ain’t no me if there ain’t no you.”

Jared recognized the words immediately.  “You read Sam’s journal. I read that in his journal.”  He grabbed a pillow and slapped Jensen with it.

Jensen took the pillow out of Jared’s hand and swung it down on Jared's belly. Jared reacted like the air suddenly escaped from his lungs. Jensen used this opening to slide from underneath Jared and pin him to the bed. Jensen was quick but not quick enough to out-maneuver Jared who pinned him down in retaliation.

“Get off me, you overgrown Moose.”  Jensen continued to struggle under the muscle that was Jared.

“Are you tapping out?”

“I am tapping out.”  Jensen slapped the side of the bed twice with the one hand that he had free.

Jared got off Jensen but Jensen used that brief moment in that Jared was unbalanced to knock him into the bed, asserting his dominance once again.

“I’m tapping back in!”

“Cheater!”

“Cheating is my pleasure baby.”

“This is the worst porno I have ever seen.”  Dean stepped into the room.  “You might want to close the door the next time.”

“We don’t close doors and we were not making a porno.”  Jensen got up off Jared.  Both men stood up and straightened their clothes.  “But if you like to see some gay porn Dean, just ask.  We have a huge collection at home.”

Dean made a bitchface of his own, “No.”

Sam came into the room not knowing what he had missed. “Why don’t we make something for dinner and talk this out?”

“I have a better idea.  Pool at the dive bar in Topeka.”  Dean smiled with pure genius in his eyes.

“You want to drive to Topeka for a game of pool?”  Sam wanted to stick to the at home dinner plan.

“Nobody is going to recognize us there.”  Dean tried to assure himself.

Sarcastically, Cas snarked, “Two sets of identical twins will not get anyone’s attention.”

“We can go in disguise?” Dean was desperately trying to keep the possibility of going out on the town alive.  

Jensen chimed in. “Put some clown masks on?”

Both Sam and Jared responded, “No clowns!”

Two hours later there was a food spread on the map table that would have put your grandmother's Thanksgiving dinner to shame. Dean and Jensen slaved over a hot stove in the kitchen. Dean figured if they weren't going to go out he would make the most of staying in. 

Sam and Jared shared reading material on some previous hunts Sam and Dean had been on. They also readied the makings for the spell in the infirmary. By the time food was ready, they had also finished setting the table. Dinner was served. The meal was perfect. 

The men took turns telling stories. J2 had stuck to tales of living on the beach and getting lost in the Baltazar's mansion. Dean refrained from telling the story about the waitress in Tampa after Sam gave him bitchface #33. 

This prompted a contest that both Dean and Jensen orchestrated as they sat at the table. They had Sam and Jared stand back to back and then they would tell the men to react to a scenario Dean and Jensen could dream up to prompt a bitchface.  When cued, both men would turn and see if they had the same facial expression.  After the fifth straight equal reaction Dean and Jensen fell over each other with laughter, which, as expected, prompted bitchface #8 from Sam and Jared, causing more laughter to ensue.  

Both Sam and Jared gave puppy eyes for being laughed at. It was at this point both Dean and Jensen stopped laughing because they were in complete shock as to what they were witnessing. 

Dean turned to Jensen and stuttered, “They both do, do puppy eyes!”

Before Jensen could start laughing again, Jared rushed over to him and lip smacked him with a kiss to which Jensen reciprocated.  

“Way to kill the fun.”  Dean rubbed the tears from his eyes from laughing. 

Sam smiled and started clearing the table.  

“Stop.  We'll get that. You two have been nothing but gracious.  We can do the dishes.”  Jensen knew Jared would agree. 

“Thanks.”  Dean heard the door open and both he and Sam walked to the bottom of the stairs.  

Cas was bringing Amber inside.  She took the blindfold off when Cas instructed her too. When she saw Sam and Dean at the bottom of the steps she bolted towards them.  

She stood at 5'7" and couldn't weigh more than 125 lbs wet. She was African-American but from the shape of her eyes and face, it was easy to recognize that she had other ethnicities in the mix.  Her hair was up in a bun held together by two wooden chopsticks.  The rest of her said hunter attire with pieces of jewelry that had religious significance and knowing Amber as they did, the jewelry could be used as a weapon as well. 

She jumped into Dean's arms. He welcomed her with love and happiness.  With Sam, he spun her around in pure joy. She didn't want to let go of both of them. 

When Sam put her down he noticed a scar under her left ear that trailed down to the base of her throat. “What the hell is that?”

“Almost lost a fight to a Shinigami.”

Dean was upset. "Almost?"

“Don't get mad at me. The Shinigami started it.”

“You were supposed to be studying, that's it.”

“I was studying a Shinigami."

Cas interrupted. "I offered to heal the scar but she insisted it was good for her."

Both men were confused.  

“It reminds me not to fight with a Shinigami.”

“I'll take her bags to her room."  Cas started down the hallway. 

Dean was still a little upset. “You do that.”

“I'm okay,” she assured him. She took both men by the hand and walked them into the library. "Where are these two hunks of beef I have been hearing about?”

Both men entered the library. Amber was taken back by their appearance.  She walked over to Jensen and he lowered his head so she could examine it closely.  

“Sugoi."  She did the same to Jared. 

She looked over her shoulder to Sam and Dean with the discovery of, “They’re just like you, without the scars and wrinkles.”

Dean took a little offense to this.

She put her hands on over J2’s hearts simultaneously. She closed her eyes which caused both men to worry. 

Then peace washed over them. Both men closed their eyes accepting what was happening. 

They could feel the love from the other pulsing through the room. They became aware of the air outside the bunker, the clouds passing in the sky. The warmth emanating from the others that occupied the room.

Sam and Dean stood in silence not knowing how to react. Amber took her hands off J2 and turned to the Sam and Dean behind her. 

“They're babies."

Both men opened their eyes and immediately hugged each other. 

“They are soulmates.”

Dean walked over to Jensen and asked, “Are you both okay?”

“Has she ever done that to the two of you?” asked Jensen.

Dean responded with, “I don’t even know what  _ that  _ was.”

Two hours later both men were side by side on the examining tables.  Amber was stationed between the two of them casting items of the spell into the brass bowl.  Both men laid still as she continued her chants.  

Dean would look down at his watch every so often to see how much time they had spent in this room.  He finally leaned over to Sam to whisper in his ear. Sam smiled and continued with his note taking in the leather journal that had been dedicated to this episode in his life.

Dean walked out of the infirmary towards the kitchen with Cas trying to catch up. 

“Dean, do you think this will work?”

“You heard what Amber said, it’s worked before.”

“This is more magic than I have ever seen before.”  Cas continued to follow Dean to the kitchen.

“It’s depends on how much they want it.”

“I would be feel better about it if we had tested it first.”  Cas looked away from Dean.

“On who?”  Dean looked up to where Cas was staring and then got pissed at himself for doing so.

“It’s just that I feel responsible.”

Dean opened the fridge and took out an apple pie.  “Nothing bad is going to happen, Cas.  You brought them here to see if we could get them a normal life.  Amber is the only shot we have at that.”  He sat down at the table with fork in hand. He was ready to dig in when Cas put a plate before him.  Dean wanted to eat the whole pie, not a slice.  He looked up when he heard Sam and Amber walking into the kitchen.

“All done!” Amber proclaimed. “Is that pie?”  She took the fork and pie from under Dean’s nose and sat herself at the other side of the table to start in on the pie.

“Sammy, she took my pie.”

“She’s our guest, Dean.”  Sam handed Amber a napkin.

“It’s my pie.”

Sam grabbed Dean a cold beer from the fridge and a water for Amber.

Amber looked up to thank him.  “Starving.”

Sam’s bitchface #15 made Dean let it go.

Dean mumbled under his breath, “My pie.” He stopped moping when everyone heard the sound of a crash coming from the enfermery.  

Dean, being the fastest, was the first to arrive in the room to see Jensen standing over Jared. The brass bowl and its contents were scattered all over the floor. 

Jensen apologized for the mess explaining, “I didn't see it. I just wanted to make sure that he was okay.”  Jensen was holding the hand of an unconscious Jared. “Why hasn't he woken up?”

By now everyone was in the room. Amber walked over to check on Jared.  “He's fine. His transformation will take longer because he's bigger.” She walked to the other side of the gurney to get a closer look at Jensen.  “It worked.”

Both Dean and Sam looked at each other confused by the comment. They saw no difference in J2.

Dean corrected, “It didn't work.”

Cas corrected Dean, “It did.  Why can't you see it?”  Reading both Sam and Dean's faces, Cas turned to Amber and asked, “Why can't they see it?”

“It must be because they are exact replicas of Sam and Dean. They can see their true faces.”  Amber took her cellphone out of her pocket and took a picture of J2.  “We see this.”

Sam, Dean and Cas took turns looking at the photo.  The picture was of a tall blond man standing over the man on the examining bed.  They were still good looking and had the same features but there were enough differences to know that they looked nothing like Sam or Dean.

Jared started to wake as Amber handed the phone to Jensen. Jensen stared at the phone and got Jared’s attention to do the same.  

Jared smiled when he realized the spell had worked.  “That’s one hell of a good looking guy.”

Jensen was also happy that the spell worked.  He kidded, “I thought you only had eyes for me?”

Dean rolled his eyes, “Get a room you two.”

Everyone laughed.

Dean had another  _ aha  _ moment.  “Let’s try this baby out.  Dive bar!”

Amber picked the bowl off the floor.  “Sorry, Dean.  I need to get to New Orleans.”

“Why?”  Dean’s voice was thick with protectiveness.

“Hunter network has been reporting a lot of vamp and werewolf activity.”  Amber wrapped the bowl in a traditional Japanese towel.

“We’ll call Garth to check it out.”  Sam felt better with his idea.

“Who do you think called me?  It’s no big deal, but I need to get down there to assess the situation.”  Amber did not want to argue her point.

“I still don’t like it.”  Dean was having none of it.

“I’ll go with her.”  Cas had grown fond of Amber.

This plan seemed to agree with both Sam and Dean.  “But when you are done assessing-”

“I’m off to Costa Rica.”

“What, now you have jobs in Costa Rica?”  Dean did not like the idea.

“No, I’m taking a vacation. I have had enough of reapers and clones.”

She hugged J2 and then hugged Sam and Dean goodbye. She whispered the same thing in both Jensen’s and Dean’s ears.  “Take care of him.”

The dive bar was everything Dean promised it would be, a dive bar.  At first Sam could not understand why they had to go to this particular dive bar, but when he saw the barmaids in their over revealing shirts, he figured it out.

They stayed at the pool table at the back of the bar.  Dean was surprised at how well J2 played pool. Jensen explained that they had a pool table at the mansion. Dean commented that they should put one in the bunker to which Sam reminded him that there was no way to get one in there.  It was during Sam and Dean’s banter, Jensen leaned over to Jared and gave him a kiss.  Nothing earned, just natural.

“Hey, faggots, why don’t you let some real men play?”  The man stood over 6’2” and weighed at least 300 lbs.  He held a beer in his left hand and pure ignorance in the other.

Dean looked to his right and then his left.  He then pointed at himself.

“Not you loser, your two queens over there.”

“Oh, sorry. Where are these real men that want to play pool?  Are they standing behind you? You’re blocking my view of the entire bar.”  Dean gave him that smile that said all teeth.

“Queer lover.”  He took a swing at Dean, which Dean ducked, but landed on Sam’s jaw.  It was hard enough to knock Sam onto the pool table.

Both Jensen and Jared ran to Dean’s side.  Dean looked over his shoulder to see if Sam was okay.  “Sammy?”

“I‘m good.” Sam said while popping his jaw back in place.

Dean turned back to face the three hundred pound gorilla.  “Wish you hadn’t done that friend.”

“I ain’t no friend of queer lov-,” Dean’s right hook ended the sentence there.

All four men were thrown out of the bar by bouncers bigger than all of them. They heard an ambulance coming for Kong and his friends. The men jumped into the Impala and screeched out of the parking lot.  

“Sam, did you see that punch I landed on that ugly dude?" Jared was still jumping and air fighting in his seat. 

Sam looked back and started laughing, “You mean when you hit that woman?”

Jared was shocked. “What?”

Sam couldn't hold it in. “Kidding.”

Dean wiped the tears of laughter from his face. “So much for that dive.”

“The only reason you brought us here was because of Holly and those child feeders she was stacking.” Jensen watched as Jared started air fighting again. 

“I thought guys like you didn't notice things like that.” Dean checked the speedometer. He looked in his rearview mirror to see the bar far behind them.  He slowed the car down. 

“What am I, blind?”  Jensen ducked one of Jared's air swings. “Slow down, Babe.  We just got these faces.”

Jared stopped again and asked, "Do you think these faces bruise?  I mean does the spell fix that too?"

Sam thought about it for second, “I know you will age.”

“That’s okay.  I like the idea of aging. I like the idea of living long enough to age.”

Sam looked down at a text that he was receiving.  “We sent your pictures over to Donna, a friend of ours. She is going to get you IDs and birth certificates. Nothing that will cause attention.”

“Oh, is she a bad guy?”  Jared started to pretend he was punching a bad guy in the face.

“No, actually, she’s a sheriff.”

Everyone was settled down and the boys were on their way to the bunker. J2 had fallen asleep in the back seat; Jared’s head resting into Jensen’s arm.  Sam was fiddling with an idea.

“I think Amber was right.”  Sam had put some thought into what he was going to say.

“She’s always right.”  Dean looked over to Sam.

“I mean about the vacation.”  Sam watched the road for both of them.

“I did want to get a look at what Balthazar left in that hideout.”  That was Dean’s way of agreeing with him.

“There’s a whole room of crap that we are too afraid to go into.”  Jensen tried to keep his voice low.

Sam appreciated the backup.

“Okay then.  We pack up what we need at the bunker and road trip to California it is.”  Dean looked into the rearview mirror.  “But your need to close your bedroom door.”

Jensen smiled.  “Don’t worry.  The guest rooms are downstairs.”

Dean looked over to Sam and stated, “Sand between our toes, Sammy. Sand between our toes.”


End file.
